Intersection

Intersection by Rick Upchurch

I have a confession to make:  I have a Christian worldview (CWV).  I see the world, and life in general, through the lens of faith in Jesus Christ and the life changing work of God in my life.  In fact, I have been a follower of Jesus Christ for so long that it is hard for me to see the world in any way except through the lens of that worldview.  Further, this CWV has been strengthened and deepened in my life due to the influences I have chosen to, and NOT to, allow in my life.  I have intentionally cultivated a CWV based upon my faith and hope in Jesus.

I recognize a CWV in and of itself isn't the standard of faith.  Merit is not awarded to me in heaven for having a CWV, nor does it make a significant difference in my life unless I allow my CWV to affect HOW I live.  My CWV provides the foundation for living in such a way that honors Jesus.

In Ephesians 3:17, 18 Paul talks about being rooted and grounded in love.  This is Belhaven’s verse of the year.  It reads:

Be rooted and grounded in love, that you may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of Christ’s love.

Paul’s reference is to the love of Christ which caused Him to make the ultimate sacrifice for our salvation.  He says we should be rooted and grounded in love.  That makes me think of trees, stumps and roots.  I've worked with my Dad to remove large tree stumps with extensive root systems and I've watched videos of individuals using all kinds of heavy equipment to do the same thing.  I’ve seen and tried a lot of different methods for removing stumps.  The bottom line is: the longer the tree grows, the deeper and broader the root system. The only really effective way to remove a stump is to dig it out and even then it leaves a lot of roots behind.   I see this as a metaphor for the CWV.  While there are a lot of ways to expand this metaphor between the root system of a tree and the CWV, I want to focus on the depth and width of those roots, the root ball. A sapling will have a small root ball with a nascent root system.  However, that changes the more the tree is supplied sunshine, water and other nutrients. The root ball expands with the roots stretching out into the dirt to draw nutrients up into the tree.  The point I'm trying to make is that our CWV has its source in the power of God displayed "through His Spirit in your inner being." (v.16) and that the more we cultivate a CWV, the broader and deeper our rootedness becomes and the more it changes us into a reflection of Jesus.

I want to expand on this. Let me draw your attention to Romans 13:8.  Paul says in this passage, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law."  In the Ephesians passage, Love is a state, a perspective; it is the foundation of the CWV.  Here in Romans, Paul has changed the focus.  Love now becomes a debt, something that is owed. This is uncomfortable language for most of us.  We don’t like owing anyone anything and will generally do all we can to avoid being in anyone’s debt.  Just think about this, if you go out to lunch with someone and they buy, who is it that pays the bill the next time you go out to lunch? That’s right in most cases it is us, because we don’t want to be in anyone’s debt.  Yet, here Paul is saying that we have a continuing debt to love one another.  It is a debt incurred through the sacrifice which Jesus made for us. It is not a debt which can be paid off.  Loving one another is how that debt is paid.  Love is a natural outflow, or should be, of a CWV. 

My concern is that we make the connection between the CWV and this debt to love one another. John 3:18 says "Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."  This same admonition is repeated throughout the Bible precisely because, we are inclined to drift into a CWV which has much good will but little active love.  I see John's comment and the others like it as a call to Purposeful Acts Of Love (PAOL) because we have a CWV.  This brings me to the title of this post: "Intersection."  I see the intersection of CWV with PAOL as the heart of what it means to be fully Christian.  In my own life, I want to be more cognizant of opportunities to express PAOL and I want to recognize it in others when I see it.  

Action has always been a part of the CWV, for instance, there are behaviors, disciplines, and practices which I, and you, consciously do to reinforce this CWV.  To use the root metaphor, there are things we do which cultivate and nurture the tree which expands the root system.  Some of those things include prayer, reading the Bible, attending church, treating others with respect, performing acts of compassion, etc.  I want to ask that you join me in making this intersection come into focus for our students; in effect to unleash the power mentioned in Ephesians 3:16-18 upon the world around us.  I also want to ask that you take this focus on Purposeful Acts of Love into your classroom, both in action and instruction to help your students see the intersection between the CWV and PAOL and the continuing debt to love one another.

To help keep this in focus I’ll be tweeting regularly using #PAOL regarding Purposeful Acts Of Love, as well as when I see examples of PAOL.  I’ve placed a feed for this hashtag in your campus faculty Canvas course for those who don’t have twitter accounts and for those of you who do, I encourage you to join me in using this hashtag to reinforce this Intersection.

Let’s not allow our focus on a CWV to become taken for granted.  Let’s nurture it with a passion that comes from being rooted and grounded in Christ.  Let’s be as passionate about paying this debt as we are about paying our other debts by Purposefully acting in Love.